It's legal. But that doesn't mean it's fair, said homeowner Marilynn Alexander, who lives on Fairmount next door to one of Cusimano's rentals. The landlord owed $26,200 in taxes and other fees on the bungalow, but bought it back in October for $1,051. "He shouldn't be able to get away with that," said Alexander, a 57-year-old laundry worker who said she scrapes together every year her $1,500 in property taxes at the house where she's lived for 20 years. "That's not a fair break to anybody else out here."

"part of a growing movement of Americans who have come to realize that no matter how much or how long they pay on their homes, all it takes to lose it to the state is failing one time to pay annual property taxes. Unlike a sales tax, which is a one-time charge, property taxes come up every year, meaning the levy is like a recurring lien on your home and land. And as long as it's around, you will always live under the threat of having your property confiscated."

"Why pay taxes?" asked Fred Phillips, who owes more than $2,600 on his home on an east-side block where five owners paid 2011 taxes. "Why should I send them taxes when they aren't supplying services? It is sickening. … Every time I see the tax bill come, I think about the times we called and nobody came."

Federal workers owed more than $3 billion in income taxes in 2008, according to the Internal Revenue Service, a figure down slightly from the year before.

The agency reported that 276,300 current and retired federal employees owed $3,042,200,000 in 2008, down from $3,586,784,725 in unpaid taxes in 2007. The list includes White House and Congressional staffers and current and former active-duty and reserve members of the military.

Tax season again. That magical time of year when, with fear in my heart, I mail my income extortion papers to the violent gang who steals my property under threat of violence. And now that it's all over my heart has gone from fear to grief as I contemplate the uses these thugs will find for my "fair share." How much of my wealth will be used to pay the salaries of the disconnected bureaucrats who tap our phones? How much of my wealth will be used to arm the boots who demand our papers, and invade our homes? How much of my wealth will be used to terrorize quiet Iraqi families?

The city of Red Wing, Minn. is enforcing a rental property inspection law that requires landlords and tenants to open their doors and submit to inspections of their private property in order for the landlord to receive a license to rent the property. Red Wing’s rental inspection program has been in place for five years. During that time, inspectors have searched the rental homes of hundreds of residents, going into their closets, looking under their beds, and inspecting their bathroom cabinets.